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Introduction

Appalachian Mountains

A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher than a hill, typically rising at least 300 metres (980 ft) above the surrounding land. A few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in mountain ranges.

Mountains are formed through tectonic forces, erosion, or volcanism, which act on time scales of up to tens of millions of years. Once mountain building ceases, mountains are slowly leveled through the action of weathering, through slumping and other forms of mass wasting, as well as through erosion by rivers and glaciers.

High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level at similar latitude. These colder climates strongly affect the ecosystems of mountains: different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and climate, mountains tend to be used less for agriculture and more for resource extraction, such as mining and logging, along with recreation, such as mountain climbing and skiing.

The highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest in the Himalayas of Asia, whose summit is 8,850 m (29,035 ft) above mean sea level. The highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars at 21,171 m (69,459 ft). The tallest mountain including submarine terrain is Mauna Kea in Hawaii from its underwater base at 9,330 m (30,610 ft) and some scientists consider it to be the tallest on earth. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain-related landform

In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust around the ice. At the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago, large proglacial lakes were a widespread feature in the northern hemisphere. (Full article...)

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Selected mountain range

The western escarpment of the Sacramento Mountains, looking south from Dog Canyon.

The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County (small portions of the range lie in Lincoln County and Chaves County). From north to south, the Sacramento Mountains extend for 85 miles (137 km), and from east to west they encompass 42 miles (68 km). (Full article...)

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A peak's line parent is the closest higher peak on the highest ridge leading away from the peak's "key col". A col is the lowest point on the ridge between two summits and is roughly synonymous with pass, gap, saddle and notch. The highest col of a peak is its key col. If there is more than one ridge which can be followed to a higher peak then the line parent is the peak closest to the key col. Usually, a line parent must meet some prominence criteria, which might vary depending on the author and the location of the peak.

There are at least two other kinds of peak parentage. Island parentage, which is also referred to as encirclement or topographic parentage; and source parentage. (Full article...)

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Selected climbing article

Traversing the Aiguilles d'Entrèves (AD 4c)

Simul-climbing (or using a running-belay) is a climbing technique where a pair of climbers who are attached by a rope simultaneously ascend a multi-pitch climbing route. It contrasts with lead climbing where the leader ascends a given pitch on the route while the second climber remains in a fixed position to belay the leader in case they fall. Simul-climbing is not free solo climbing, as the lead simul-climber will clip the rope into points of climbing protection as they ascend. Simul-climbing is different from a rope team (which can involve larger groups) and short-roping [fr] (used by guides with their clients), which are used for flatter terrain that doesn't typically need protection points.

Simul-climbing is an advanced and potentially dangerous technique. A fall by either climber is serious, and a 2019 article in Outside said "That's why there's a simple rule of simul-climbing: don't fall." In simul-climbing, the strongest climber goes second. Contemporary simul-climbers use progress capture devices (PCDs) at some of the protection points so that if the following climber falls, the PCD will lock the rope holding the falling climber and preventing the leader from being pulled off. While PCDs can control the consequences of a fall, no manufacturer of PCDs recommends their use for simul-climbing, and the falls from simul-climbing can place greater forces and stresses on the rope and/or the PCD than they were made to handle. The second climber will also use an assisted braking device as a belay device which will auto-lock in the event of a leader fall. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various mountain-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Edelweiss, a plant associated with mountain sports (from Mountaineering)
Image 2The Dolomite Mountains, Italy, in summer. The climate of the Dolomites is characterized by short but warm and mild summers, while winters are long and very cold. (from Mountain)
Image 3Fixed lines and ladders are distinguishing characteristics of expedition style mountaineering (from Mountaineering)
Image 4Fuji volcano (from Mountain)
Image 5Waimea Canyon, Hawaii, is known for its montane vegetation. (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 6Car of Horská služba (Czech Republic) (from Mountain rescue)
Image 7The Ocean Ridge, the world's longest mountain range (chain) (from Mountain range)
Image 8Climber approaching the summit of Manaslu at 8,163 metres (from Mountaineering)
Image 9The Andes, the longest mountain range on the surface of the Earth, have a dramatic impact on the climate of South America (from Mountain range)
Image 10British mountaineer William Cecil Slingsby became known as the father of Norwegian mountaineering and contributed greatly to its popularization with his classic book Norway, the Northern Playground (from Mountaineering)
Image 11The northern Urals at high latitude and elevation have an alpine climate and barren ground. (from Mountain)
Image 12A subalpine lake in the Cascade Range, Washington, United States (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 13This 1848 "Sketch showing the actual elevation of the Snow Line in different Latitudes" by Alexander Keith Johnston shows the snow lines of mountains in America, Europe and Asia (from Snow line)
Image 14Cabane du Trient, a mountain hut in the Swiss Alps (from Mountaineering)
Image 15Mountaineers, c. 1900 (from Mountaineering)
Image 16Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria, part of the fault-block Rila-Rhodope massif (from Mountain)
Image 17Illustration of mountains that developed on a fold that has been thrust (from Mountain)
Image 18Alpine landscape below Malyovitsa Peak, Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 19Temperate montane forest in Bavaria, Germany (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 20Montes Apenninus on the Moon was formed by an impact event. (from Mountain range)
Image 21Mont Blanc in Aosta Valley, Italy, the highest point in the European Union (from Mountain)
Image 22Mountain rescue team members and other services attend to a casualty in Freiburg Germany. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 23A stand of mountain birch at around 750 m in Trollheimen, typical of Scandinavian subalpine forests (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 24Antique climbing tools (from Mountaineering)
Image 25Iranian oak scrub in the Zagros Mountains (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 26Chimborazo, Ecuador, whose summit is the point farthest away from the Earth's center (from Mountain)
Image 27Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain (from Mountain)
Image 28Choppering out the injured – with Mt. Forbes in the background (from Mountain rescue)
Image 29Mountaineers proceed across snow fields on South Tyrol; other climbers are visible further up the slopes. (from Mountaineering)
Image 30The Catskills in Upstate New York represent an eroded plateau. (from Mountain)
Image 31Climbers ascending Mount Rainier looking at Little Tahoma Peak (from Mountaineering)
Image 32The city of La Paz reaches up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) in elevation. (from Mountain)
Image 33The Namcha Barwa Himal, east part of the Himalayas as seen from space by Apollo 9 (from Mountain range)
Image 34The graph shows where mountains are found and their altitude. (from Mountain)
Image 35Edward Whymper (1840–1911), painting by Lance Calkin (from Mountaineering)
Image 36An alpine mire in the Swiss Alps (from Mountain)
Image 37Mountaineers climbing in South Tyrol (from Mountain)
Image 38A mountain rescue team in Iran moving a casualty. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 39Stretcher box in Cumbria, England, prepositioned equipment saves mountain rescue teams having to trudge up mountains with it. (from Mountain rescue)
Image 40Tropical montane forest at around 2,000 m in Malaysia (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 41Everest is highest from sea level (green), Mauna Kea is highest from its base (orange), Cayambe is farthest from Earth's axis (pink) and Chimborazo is farthest from Earth's centre (blue) (from Mountain)
Image 42Alpine flora near Cascade Pass (from Montane ecosystems)
Image 43Winter campers bivouaced in the snow (from Mountaineering)

Selected skiing article

An athlete mogul skiing at Waterville Valley Resort

Mogul skiing is a freestyle skiing competition consisting of one timed run of free skiing on a steep, heavily moguled course, stressing technical turns, aerial maneuvers and speed. Internationally, the sport is contested at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, and at the Winter Olympic Games.

Moguls are a series of bumps on a piste formed when skiers push snow into mounds as they do sharp turns. This tends to happen naturally as skiers use the slope but they can also be constructed artificially. Once formed, a naturally occurring mogul tends to grow as skiers follow similar paths around it, further deepening the surrounding grooves known as troughs. Since skiing tends to be a series of linked turns, moguls form together to create a bump field. (Full article...)

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